Forget Me Not
by Zesty Bod
Summary: House is a nice guy? After a motorcycle accident leaves House with temporary amnesia, he becomes a completely different person. What will his newfound attitude do for his relationship with Cuddy, and will House change as he starts to regain his memories?
1. Chapter 1

**FORGET ME NOT**

**Summary: House is a nice guy? After a motorcycle accident leaves House with temporary amnesia, he becomes a completely different person. What will his newfound attitude do for his relationship with Cuddy, and will House change as he starts to regain his memories?**

Chapter 1

_Lisa Cuddy, M.D._

_Dean of Medicine_

For the first time in a long while, Cuddy actually noticed the words spelled out on the door that led to her office. With one hand on the glass, she smiled to herself and took a second to appreciate the words. She was the Dean of Medicine of a prestigious hospital, and she had worked her ass off to achieve the honor. A lot of sleepless nights and hard work had gone into her becoming the youngest ever, and only female, Dean of Medicine at Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. And that work never seemed to end.

Every day, she woke up at five in the morning to be at work exactly at seven. All day, she dealt with the administrative duties of keeping the hospital going. She signed countless pages of paperwork, sat through long boring meetings, schmoozed with potential donors, and did the one job that everyone at PPTH marveled at: she kept Gregory House in line. Well, Cuddy kept him in line as much as that was humanly possible. Genius like his could barely be contained and Cuddy understood that. She gave him limits while still letting him work his way. Considering how often he was able to solve the puzzles of diseases and save his patients, Cuddy figured that he had a pretty good track record. He earned a little space to act like a jackass.

And act like a jackass, he did. Every day there was something new. Usually, House was looking for Cuddy to sign off on some outrageous surgery or to allow some unheard-of procedure based on nothing more than a leap of faith. But there were other times when he was just out for nothing more than the enjoyment of annoying her. Despite his astounding intelligence, House really had the mind of an adolescent. He could really frustrate the hell out of Cuddy, with his total disregard for authority and his crude comments about her body. Still, she put up with him. Sometimes, she questioned her own sanity.

Cuddy took her mind off of House as she settled into her chair and checked out the paperwork that she had to sign before some meetings later in the day. Time passed by quickly, and Cuddy had only taken two breaks in the span of four hours: one to stretch her legs and get coffee, and another to use the restroom. Other than that, she was focused on the never-ending job of the Dean.

The door burst open, without so much as a knock or a "hello," and Cuddy didn't even look up. She knew who it was. And she knew that it must have been nearly twelve o'clock. House was in her office at around the same time every day, for some reason or another.

"What is it?" she asked, keeping her eyes on her paperwork.

"Good morning to you, too," he said dryly. House plopped down on her couch, resting his cane next to his body, and he pulled out his bottle and swallowed a Vicodin. He didn't say anything else, and Cuddy frowned and looked at up him.

"What?" she asked again, sure that he was out to bug her about something or other. House looked at her like he didn't understand her annoyance.

"Can't I just come by to say hello to you and the twins?"

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "No. You want something, so spit it out so I can get on with my work."

"Maybe I just want to sit in here and soak up your beauty," he said sarcastically.

"Out," Cuddy told him, pointing to the doors.

"I'm not even doing anything," he defended with a shrug and a surprised look that she was kicking him out. He had yet to ask for a damn thing.

"I can't think with you sitting there. I can just hear your brain churning and it's making my head hurt."

"I can't go back to my office," he grumbled.

Cuddy sighed and put her pen down, scooting back into her chair. "Why not, House?"

"Because Huey, Dewey, and Louie are driving me insane," he said dryly. "I'm tired of looking at their ugly faces."

"Well go bother someone else, then. Go talk to somebody in a coma or bug Wilson. Or, here's a thought," Cuddy said with faux excitement. "You could actually do some work like a real doctor."

"I _know_ you're not talking about what a real doctor should do," House countered, nodding his head at her paperwork. "You're just a paper-pusher. Do you even know how to intubate a patient anymore?"

"Get out before I throw your cane out of the window and make you limp out that door," she said dryly.

"Oh, meow," House said with a sarcastic smile. "A little cranky this morning, aren't we, Cuddy? What happened? You run out of batteries last night right before the good part?"

Cuddy groaned and then stood up, walking over to him with the intention of tossing his cane out of the window like she had promised. But then the phone rang, and she stopped her quest. She pointed her finger at him, motioning for him not to open that fat mouth.

"Dr. Lisa Cuddy," she answered professionally, still shooting glares at him. House smiled, which annoyed her further. "Uh-huh, sure," she nodded. Cuddy looked down at her watch. "No, it's not a problem." House saw her smile, seemingly happy with whoever was on the other end. "I'm sure, Jack. I'll meet you for lunch."

She hung up, forgetting about her quest for House's cane. She had a lunch date in twenty minutes and she wanted to get through a few more pieces of paperwork before then.

"Who's got you all smiley?" House wondered, his curiosity piqued as usual.

"None of your business," Cuddy sang, hoping that he would get the hint and leave her alone.

House narrowed his eyes. Cuddy was wearing a striking, tight suit today. He'd gotten a whiff of her perfume after she had walked in his direction, and her makeup was flawless. It all pointed to one thing: a date.

"You're meeting some guy for lunch," he surmised.

"Gee, what tipped you off?" she asked dryly.

"Maybe it was the way your breasts nearly poked my eyes out."

"Mm," she said without emotion.

"Who is this jerk?"

"What makes him a jerk, House?" Cuddy asked, looking up again. This was exactly why she didn't like to have him around her when she worked: he distracted her. "The fact that he wants to date me?"

"No, that just makes him stupid," House replied with a casual shrug. "He's a jerk for actually taking you to the hospital cafeteria for a date. They serve better food at Rikers."

Cuddy frowned. "How do you know where we're going?"

"You have a meeting at one," he informed her. "Which only leaves you an hour for lunch and you can't walk anywhere, sit down, eat, and walk back in time. And since you have this silly thing about punctuality, the only place to eat is downstairs in that shithole."

Cuddy sighed, resigned to stop her attempts at figuring out how his warped brain worked. "Go bug someone else," she said, almost pleading with him.

House smiled and decided to leave without further agitation. He had a better plan now anyway. He left her office, limping to the elevator. He made his way to Wilson's office, and true to form, he barged in without knocking.

"Hey, wanna spy on Cuddy?" he asked like an excited little boy.

"Good morning, House. How has your day been? Mine has been great," Wilson said, making up for the pleasantries that House always seemed to forget.

"She's got a date in the lunch room."

"With who?" Wilson asked, easily baited into House's game.

"Some idiot named Jack. Come on, so we can get front row seats."

Wilson didn't even try to object as he followed his best friend down to the lunch room. They got some food and took seats at a table near the back, so they could survey everyone else. Right on time, Cuddy walked into the room and smiled brightly at a guy sitting at a two-person table. She walked over to him and he kissed her cheek.

"Look at him," House said, shaking his head and analyzing the guy from all the way across the cafeteria. Jack Whoever was a tall, slim guy who couldn't have been older than thirty. He had short, dark hair and a big smile, and House was sure all the ladies thought he was a 'hottie.'

"He seems nice enough," Wilson shrugged, always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt.

"Since when does Cuddy rob the cradle?" House asked. "That guy was barely alive when Michael Jackson made 'Thriller.'"

"So he's a little young. So what? Cuddy seems happy."

Cuddy did indeed seem happy. She was sitting and chatting it up with Jack Stranger, smiling and chuckling at whatever he said. House narrowed his eyes.

"He's a dumbass."

"Really?" Wilson asked dryly. "Or are you the dumbass?"

House looked at his friend like he didn't understand the question.

"At least Jack had the balls to ask her out. Unlike you…"

"That statement upsets me for two reasons," House told him.

"Please…elaborate." Wilson knew that whatever came out of House's mouth would be pure bullshit, but he figured that he would indulge him anyway.

"First of all, you are implying that _I_ want to date Cuddy. And I don't."

"Right," Wilson rolled his eyes. "So all that arguing and sexual tension between the two of you is just, what? Part of my imagination?"

House ignored him and took a bite of his sandwich. Wilson waited for House's another reason.

"And your other reason that my statement upsets you? You said there were two?"

"Did I?" House said, looking bewildered. "I've never been good with math."

"House, if you don't like Cuddy, why are we down here spying on her? And why do you make her life a living hell every day by teasing her like a six-year-old school boy?"

"Because teasing Cuddy is almost as fun as teasing you, Jimmy," House smiled, satisfied with his answer. "Now shut up. I'm trying to read her lips and you're distracting me."

Wilson sighed and rolled his eyes, even though he wasn't at all surprised. Espionage was all part of the package when one had House as a friend.

…

House had to walk carefully as the sun went down and he made his way from the hospital doors to his motorcycle. It was dark outside, and the ground was covered in snow and ice. His cane always slipped in wintery weather, and House decided to walk as slowly as possible to avoid falling on his ass and hurting himself any more than his leg was already hurting him. He made it to his bike and twirled his cane around a few times before stealthily sliding it into his backpack. He smiled to himself at how cool that little move was, and he mounted his motorcycle. He started up the bike and slipped his helmet on, and without another thought, he sped out of the hospital parking lot.

The cold air blasted across him as he rode down the streets with total freedom. It was pretty late, so there weren't many drivers out, which meant he could go faster than usual. He revved up the engine a little bit and grinned underneath his helmet. House knew, of course, that motorcycles were dangerous and they afforded much less protection than automobiles, but being on a bike appealed to his never-ending sense of adventure. He always felt so bound by his cane and his disability, and the only time he ever truly felt free was on that bike.

He slowed down just a tad to round a curve, and his mind was on what he could scrounge up around his house for food. House didn't notice the thin layer of snow covering the slick ice on the road, but as the wheel of his motorcycle slid over the ice, he was jarred from his thoughts about dinner. He lost control of the bike underneath him and the front end ran right into the stop sign on the corner of the street. House was thrown from the motorcycle and he landed harshly on the frosty ground. He felt immediate pain in his head, and for the few seconds that he was awake, he managed to push the first number on his speed dial. But by the time the number got through, House was unconscious.

…

Cuddy tightened the scarf around her neck and walked carefully across the snow-covered parking lot of the hospital. Her day was finally finished and she wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed and go to sleep. Tomorrow would bring another long day of playing Mommy to everyone at the hospital.

"Dr. Cuddy!" a female voice called from behind her. Cuddy turned around and saw Cameron rushing over to her, and she sighed and bit back a groan. Whenever one of three ducklings came running to her like that, House had done something illegal and or unethical.

"Please tell me that idiot didn't do something stupid," Cuddy groaned. "Like shove a spoon up someone's ass." She should have known something was up when she got that weird call from him earlier. Cuddy answered it, thinking it might actually be important. When House never said anything, she rolled her eyes and hung up. Only House would think that prank calls were still funny.

"It's not that," Cameron said, slightly out of breath. Her eyes were large, portraying her concern. But then again, when it came to House, Cameron always looked concerned.

"Well, what did he do this time?"

"He fell off his motorcycle," Cameron said, and Cuddy's heart immediately dropped into her shoes. "They just wheeled him into the ER. He's not moving or responding to anything."

Cuddy took off running back into the hospital, somehow graceful in her expensive heels, and Cameron was right behind her. The two women rushed into the Emergency Room, and as soon as Cuddy saw Wilson hanging over someone's stretcher, she knew that was him. She quickly dropped her purse off at the nurses' station and joined Wilson. She looked down at House, who was on a stretcher and unconscious. He looked fine, other than the fact that he was out cold.

"What happened? Is he okay?" Cuddy asked as they pushed the stretcher down to the elevator.

"He's out like a light," Wilson said, and she could tell that he was worried too. "The good news is no broken bones or serious outward injuries."

"How did he fall?" Cuddy asked, growing even more worried than she had been just a minute prior.

"On his head. Luckily, he was wearing his helmet. Unluckily, the fact that he's still unconscious points to brain trauma. We're taking up to have an MRI right now."

"Oh God," Cuddy said under her breath.

She followed Wilson and the rest of House's team up the elevator and to the MRI. She watched, unsure of what to think, as Foreman and Chase loaded their boss onto the machine. House didn't move an inch and all of the doctors went to the computers to observe the screens for the results.

"When did this happen?" Cuddy asked.

"Someone found him on the side of the road about thirty minutes ago," Foreman told her. He tried not to look too worried, but it was clear that everyone in the room was terrified. House was an asshole, but they still loved him for some reason.

"Ah shit," she whispered under her breath. Cameron looked at her as if to ask what was wrong. Cuddy sighed and watched the screens. "House called me and didn't say anything, and I assumed he was just being an idiot. He was probably calling for help. I should have found out what was happening instead of letting him lay out in the snow, possibly dying."

"Cuddy, you couldn't have known," Wilson promised her, with a reassuring pat on her shoulder. "I would have done the same thing."

Cuddy nodded, even though she didn't feel any better about the situation.

"Look at that," Chase said, pointing to the screen. "He's got a bit of damage to the temporal lobes and the hippocampus."

"You know what that means," Cameron spoke up, and Cuddy furrowed her eyebrows. She did indeed know what it meant: House would likely wake up with some form of amnesia. The ramifications of her invaluable diagnostician being unable to remember were more than she cared to think about. Depending on the extent of the amnesia, House might not remember anything about medicine. He might not remember his friends or his team or anything about his life. His team looked very worried that House wouldn't remember a single thing, and Cuddy took a deep breath and put on more of a smile than she really felt.

"Let's not jump to conclusions about how bad it might be," she said in her administrative voice. "For now, we'll just let him rest and when he comes out of it, we'll go from there." The three underlings nodded and Cuddy pointed to the MRI. "Let's take him upstairs."

Foreman, Chase, and Cameron all left the room to retrieve House, and Wilson looked up at Cuddy.

"How bad do you really think it'll be?"

"Honestly," she said with a sigh. "I have no idea."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Awakening from unconsciousness, House's five senses all made themselves known at different times.

First was his hearing. He could hear a chorus of voices in the distance, muffled behind some kind of wall or barrier.

Next was taste. His mouth was dry and cotton-y, like it had been closed for days. He grimaced at the disgusting hot sensation in his mouth, which led him to open his eyes and look around for some relief.

Sight was third, and he furrowed his eyes in confusion. He was the only person in a room, resting on a narrow, long bed. The soft beeping of monitors provided the only sounds, and he leaned his head to the side to see where the voices he'd heard were coming from. A glass wall, with the blinds open, allowed House to see two people, one man and one woman, both in white coats.

Smell was the fourth sense to kick in, and House grimaced at the sanitary odor of disinfectants.

Lastly, he regained his sense of touch. He looked down at his hospital robe-clad body and the plain white blanket that rested on top of him.

House allowed himself a few minutes to figure out what was going on, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember where he was, how he'd gotten there, or even worse…his name. He looked down at his long fingers, trailing his eyes over his forearms and further up until he could no longer see his body. He was confused, slightly frightened, and in need of some explanation.

He opened his mouth to speak and his voice was gruff from the lack of use. House cleared his throat and spoke up as loudly as he could.

"Excuse me," he called, hoping one of the people on the other side of the glass wall would hear him. The girl turned her head in his direction, and her eyes widened. She raced into the room, followed by the man.

"Oh my God, you're awake!" she said excitedly. "How are you? Is your head hurting? What about your leg?"

Her questions were being fired at him like a cannon and all he could do was frown and ease back more into his bed. He had no clue who the woman was or why her eyes had lit up like Christmas ornaments once she saw that he was awake. Was it really that exciting?

But there was only so far back he could escape before the white-coated man leaned down to him with a pen that flashed light in his eyes.

"Follow my finger," he said, waving his finger in front of House's face, from one side to other. House followed it and the man smiled. "Good. Do you know where you are?"

House looked from the man to the woman, and he could tell that they were both hoping for an affirmative answer. But he shook his head.

"No," he said, his voice still a little hoarse. The woman sprang into action, pouring him some water and handing it to him. "Thank you," he said quietly.

She seemed slightly surprised at his thanks, but she smiled and nodded.

"You're in a hospital," the man told him in a calm voice. "Do you remember how you got here?"

"No," House said again.

"You had a motorcycle accident," the man told him, pulling out an instrument and then pressing it to House's heart. He listened for a few seconds and nodded at the woman. "Sounds good." He looked at House again. "You fell off your bike and knocked a few screws loose in your head. You've got what we call retrograde amnesia."

"What?" House asked, growing more confused by the second.

"Do you know who you are?" the man asked seriously. House took a sip of his water and cleared his throat. He took a long minute to really try to formulate an answer, but in the end, he came up empty. He looked at the two people and slowly shook his head.

"No."

He could tell this answer was both expected but disappointing at the same time. The man looked at the woman and they shared a quick expression of sadness before the man turned back around and smiled.

"We're hoping that amnesia will wear off soon. Maybe in a few weeks. It could take a little longer for your body to repair itself, and it doesn't look like there's anything we can do surgically. We'll just have to wait and see if you start to get your memory back."

House didn't nod or ask any questions. He felt like he had just woken up from nothingness and now he was surrounded by people and things that he didn't know.

"I'm Wilson," the man said, offering his hand. "Well…James Wilson. But I don't remember the last time you actually called me James," he chuckled. "This is Dr. Cameron," he said, pointing to the girl. She smiled sadly and waved at House.

"You're both doctors?" House asked.

"Yes, you're my boss," Cameron spoke up, hoping to spark some memory. She didn't. House continued to stare blankly at her.

"I'm a doctor?" he asked, slightly surprised.

"And a very good one," Wilson nodded. "Your name is Gregory House. You're the head diagnostician around here. You pretty much solve cases that nobody else can."

"I don't remember any of that," House admitted.

Wilson hated to see his friend look so pathetic, but in a way, it was slightly refreshing. The old House would have woken up with some snide remarks and in some roundabout, House-like way, he would have thanked them for their help. But this House was not like that, at least not yet. He'd actually thanked Cameron for the water and he seemed appreciative without hiding behind jokes. Wilson wondered how long it would last.

"Can we do anything for you, House?" Cameron asked, giving him a rub on the shoulder. She halfway expected him to jerk away, but he didn't.

"Could you get me a toothbrush?" he asked.

"There's one in the bathroom," she smiled.

House nodded and started to pull himself out of the bed. Both Wilson and Cameron jumped to help him up, but they were pleasantly stunned when House stood up all by himself and looked at them like he didn't understand why they seemed so worried.

"What?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Uh…you're not in pain?" Wilson asked, so used to seeing House limping from place or place, barely able to stand without his cane. Yet there he stood, looking perfectly healthy.

"No," House answered slowly. "Should I be?"

"No," Wilson and Cameron both answered. House nodded and walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

"Oh my God!" Cameron whispered to Wilson. "His leg isn't hurting! Do you think he can't remember the pain?"

"He obviously doesn't remember the infarction," Wilson said very quietly. "I don't know how you can forget pain like that, though. He was in agony."

"Maybe it was psychosomatic," Cameron suggested.

"Or maybe when he hit his head, he jarred a few pain sensors as well as his memory center." He tapped his chin quickly. "We'll take him up to the MRI and run another scan just to be sure that nothing weird is going on. Other than that, we'll count our blessings and make sure not to mention his leg pain to him."

"Don't you think sooner or later he'll notice the gaping hole in his thigh?"

"And I'll explain it, leaving out the part about the unbearable pain," Wilson smiled. This was actually turning out to be a good thing. And then another thought dawned on him. "No pain, no Vicodin."

"No Vicodin, no addiction. No addiction, no asshole-y House."

The two of them giggled together like school girls, and when House reappeared, he actually smiled at them.

"Much better," he said, walking back to his bed and sitting down.

"We're going to take you up to have an MRI and make sure that everything looks kosher," Wilson told him. "Is that fine?"

"Sure," he shrugged.

Wilson and Cameron looked at each other again. Where was a camera when they needed one? House being agreeable was definitely a Kodak moment. It didn't matter than his brain was basically a blank slate.

"Call Foreman and Chase down here," Wilson told the younger doctor. "I'll call Cuddy and let her know how he's doing."

"Sure," Cameron smiled, more than happy to help.

Wilson left the room and called Cuddy, who was at a conference in Trenton. She had been really hesitant to go because she wanted to be there for House when he woke up. She'd sat at his bedside, laptop and coffee in hand, for the whole two days as he slept. Wilson practically had to guarantee her that nothing would happen to House in her absence. He'd promised round-the-clock supervision by either him or one of House's team members.

"Hey, Wilson," Cuddy answered her phone.

"You sound tired. I take it the conference isn't going well?"

"It's so boring, I'm thinking about killing myself," she said dryly.

"Well don't swallow that arsenic just yet. House just woke up," he said proudly.

"He did? How is he?" Cuddy's voice perked a little at the mention of House.

"Remarkably well. Of course, he can't remember a damn thing including his own name…"

"Ah, damn it," she cursed. She didn't want to begin to think about how long House would be out of commission, or if his memory was permanently gone. She couldn't afford to have her top doctor clueless about medicine.

"But get this," Wilson said, waiting to drop the bomb on her. "He got out of bed and walked to the bathroom."

"Oookay," Cuddy said slowly, obviously missing the punch line.

"Without his cane."

There was a long pause.

"What?" she finally asked.

"He didn't feel any pain and he just walked in there by himself. I haven't told him about his infarction yet, but when I do, I'll make sure to leave out the part about the unbearable pain and the Vicodin addiction."

"Good call," she said, and he could tell that she was happy to hear the news.

"I guess we can talk about it more when you get back."

"Yeah, I'll be back this afternoon. Keep me posted if anything changes."

"I will."

…

Wilson and House stepped off the elevator and onto the floor where House's office was. Since waking up, House had been subjected to a battery of tests and he shocked Foreman and Chase when he didn't complain once. He just sat there and did what they asked…like a good patient. House took a shower, and as predicted, he saw the missing part of his leg and came out of the bathroom with questions for Wilson. Wilson fielded it as best he could, simply telling his friend that he'd had an infarction in his leg and rather than amputate, the doctors removed the dead muscle. Considering that House had no idea whether his leg was supposed to hurt or not, Wilson went on to say that the muscle removal was the best option and that he'd been feeling great ever since.

He almost felt bad about lying to House, but then again, Wilson was well aware of how powerful the mind could be. He had no doubt that House was in real pain when his leg hurt, but he also knew that the brain could be tricked into causing more pain than was really there. As long as House believed that he was supposed to feel great physically, then he might truly get better, even as his memories began to return and his pain sensors caught up to speed. And of course the upside to all of it was that absent any pain, House didn't need any Vicodin. He didn't have any memory that he was addicted to Vicodin. Weirdly, it was a win-win situation.

"So this is your office," Wilson said, giving House the grand tour of his place of employment. House didn't keep any extra clothes in his office, so he was wearing scrubs. Normally, he would have complained. But this memory-wiped version of himself actually kind of liked the outfit. He felt like a doctor in them.

"It's big," House said, stepping into the office space that he shared with his team.

"Yeah, this is where all the magic happens," Wilson chuckled. "You and your team sit here and toss around ideas until you have some crazy epiphany and save the patients' lives. You like to write all the symptoms down on that white board," he said, pointing to it.

House nodded and looked around. The place felt familiar in a sense, but he didn't remember it. He meandered over to his personal office space and looked inside, almost like he wasn't sure he should enter.

"It's your office, you know," Wilson reminded him with a smile. House took that liberty to walk inside and he looked around, noting the oversized tennis ball, the small TV, and the stash of records, CDs, and other forms of music.

"I like music, huh?" he asked.

"Oh yeah," Wilson nodded. "All kinds, but mostly jazz. You play the piano, too."

House nodded, impressed with his ability. He turned on the iPod deck and old-school, blues-filled jazz filled the room. He grinned and nodded as he looked at Wilson. He didn't recognize it, but he liked it.

"So what, are we pretty good friends?" House asked, unconsciously moving his fingers like he was playing the horn that came over the speakers.

"Best friends," Wilson told him sincerely. "Although you would never admit that."

"Why not?" he wondered.

Wilson took a minute to ponder the question, and he slowly shrugged. "Honestly, I couldn't tell you. I stopped trying to figure out what goes on in that head of yours a long time ago."

House walked around to his desk and studied it for a minute. It was devoid of any pictures or personal touches. He wondered why that was. He wondered what he was really like, pre-brain erasure.

"Come on, I'll show you the clinic. Your least favorite place in the world," Wilson smiled.

House turned off the music and followed him to the elevator again.

"Aside from the work we do in our specialties, all the doctors have to log clinic hours too," Wilson explained as they went to the first floor. "It's usually pretty run-of-the-mill stuff: sneezes, colds, the occasional STD. You hate it. You think anybody with half a brain can do it."

House nodded thoughtfully but wondered if could diagnose the "run-of-the-mill stuff" in his state. He doubted it, no matter how much of a genius Wilson trumped him up to be.

"So this is the clinic. The bane of your existence. You and Cuddy have had many a memorable fight down here," Wilson mused with a smile on his face.

"Cuddy?" House asked, walking towards the nurses' station where people checked in.

"Yeah, she's the boss lady. She runs the whole place, and she's our boss. As much as you guys go at it, she's probably your closest friend besides me."

House nodded and Wilson went on about something or other involving the clinic. House looked around, observing the people who sat in the waiting room. The sound of heels clicking against the floor caught his attention amidst the noise, though, and when he looked up, his heart stopped.

There stood a woman, signing something on a clipboard, and House found himself immediately attracted to her. She had long, dark, curly hair that was pulled away from her face. He could only see a profile of her, but he could tell that she was quite shapely from the way her skirt-suit clung to her body. His eyes started at the bottom of her body, where she wore high heels that seemed to make her calves work over time. Her skirt covered her knees but fit so well that he could still see the outline of her thighs and butt. And what a nice butt it was. He felt bad for staring so blatantly.

"Wilson?" he asked, nudging his friend with his elbow.

Wilson stopped talking and noticed that House was gazing in another direction. His eyes followed House's and he couldn't even stop the grin on his face.

"Who is _that_?" House asked.

Wilson wanted to jump up and down and yell, "I knew it! I _knew_ you had a thing for Cuddy!" But the meaning would have been lost on House. The one time that Wilson could truly rub something in his friend's face, and it was totally pointless.

"_That_ is that aforementioned Cuddy, the Dean of the Hospital."

House whistled lowly and Cuddy looked up and her eyes brightened upon seeing him. She scribbled something onto the paper and quickly handed it off to the nurse before hurrying over to House. He got a great look at her chest, which was as well-proportioned as the rest of her, and then he got to see her face. And it was not a disappointment. She wasn't pretty in the sense of a Barbie doll or a cute girl. Cuddy was beautiful like a grown woman. Her face had well-defined features, and her eyes popped against the framework of her dark hair.

"House," she said sweetly, wrapping her arms around him for a hug. He definitely returned it, looking over her shoulder and grinning at Wilson, who was still angry that he wasn't getting the chance to totally humiliate House.

"How are you?" she asked, pulling away from him and examining his face.

House then decided to add "sexy voice" to the list of things that he already liked about Cuddy. Her voice was deep in an almost smoky way, but still feminine. Sultry was probably the best way to describe it.

"Fine, I think," he told her honestly.

"You look good," she smiled. Cuddy's eyes ran over his body and she looked from his thigh to Wilson, and she knew better than to ask if his leg hurt. If he didn't know that it was supposed to, then there was no reason to tell him.

"You look good," House said with a genuine smile. Cuddy was obviously caught off-guard, and Wilson couldn't stop his laughter. If Old House could see New House, clearly fawning over Cuddy, Old House would have a heart attack.

"Thanks," she said with a slight laugh.

"Dr. Cuddy," one of the nurses said, holding out three more clipboards. Cuddy groaned but smiled at the boys.

"I've got to catch up on some work. I'll come down to your room and check up on you later, okay?"

"Sure," House nodded, and he didn't make any attempt not to watch her walk away. Her butt in that skirt. Good Lord! He immediately wondered if he had ever had the pleasure of seeing her naked. He started to get jealous of himself.

"So me and Cuddy," he said to Wilson as she walked out of earshot. "We're just friends?"

Wilson was still chuckling to himself. He patted House on the back and nodded. "So you say."

House kissed his teeth. "Looks like I'll have to change that."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for all the great feedback, everyone! I hope you're having as much fun reading this as I am writing it. This is my first House fic, and I'm still catching up with the show, but I just love these characters. Your continued responses will keep this going! :)**

Chapter 3

Night fell and Cuddy was behind her desk, scribbling her signature to a stack of papers. She had toed off her heels a long time before, and she didn't even want to look at the time to see how late it was. That conference earlier in Trenton had put her behind on her daily mountains of paperwork, and she was determined to stay put until she was caught up. She was beginning to not recognize her own handwriting and a slight headache was surfacing. Her eyes were straining in the relative darkness of her office, with only the sparse light of the small desk lamp and the lamp in the corner to light up the room.

Cuddy sat back after finishing a pile and she rubbed the bridge of her nose. The next day, she had a full plate ahead of her. She would be in meetings from eight until five, discussing the budget, new additions, and proposed changes to the heart transplant list. She needed a break, so she slipped her heels back on and headed out of the door. She had no particular destination in mind, but as she walked past a certain patient's room, she smiled and remembered that she owed House a visit. She had been so consumed with her work that she hadn't gotten another chance to see him. She also hadn't been too worried about it, either, because she knew that Wilson was doing a good job of looking in on him.

Cuddy tapped on the window, and House pulled his attention away from the TV and smiled at her. A real smile, too. It was an unfortunately rare expression coming from House.

"Mind if I come in?" she asked, sliding the door open.

"Not at all," he told her. "I was just trying to make sense of this show. Road Rules or something."

Cuddy looked up and chuckled when she saw that he was watching MTV. "Don't hurt your brain over it. It wouldn't make sense even if you had your memory." She pulled up a seat next to his bed and examined him with her doctor's eye. He looked fine.

"How are you feeling?"

"Good," he shrugged calmly. "Considering that I don't remember anything."

"There doesn't seem to be anything abnormal on the MRI," Cuddy told him. "Which is good. It seems like we'll just have to wait it out and let your memory come back on its own."

"How long do you think that'll take?" he asked. House looked concerned, an emotion he usually tried to conceal, and Cuddy found it endearing.

"It's hard to tell. It could be a few days," she shrugged. "A couple of weeks. Maybe months, though I doubt it." House nodded and she relaxed into the chair more. It was nice to take a break and check in on him, even if the conversation was almost like talking to a stranger. It was weird seeing House so…normal. No games, no tricks, and he wasn't hiding behind his gauze of lack of concern of any human being, including himself.

"You haven't been down here by yourself this whole time, have you? I would have stopped by sooner, but all that work…" She rolled her eyes, and House smiled.

"Wilson was here keeping me company. I think he got annoyed, though, because there was only so much I could talk about without him having to explain all his inside jokes every five minutes."

Cuddy gave him a sympathetic smile and a reassuring pat on the hand. "Trust me, he didn't get annoyed with you. He voluntarily puts up with you everyday." House smiled at her words and her closeness.

"What's your name?" he asked. Cuddy immediately got a panicked look on her face, thinking that he was having some other, more serious form of amnesia. He caught onto her concern and shook his head before he panicked. "I remember Cuddy. I just don't remember your first name. I think I was distracted when Wilson told me the first time."

"Oh," she replied, obviously relieved that the situation wasn't worse. She missed his hint about being distracted by her earlier. "Lisa," she smiled.

"Lisa," House said, rolling the name around in his mouth, like he was testing to see if he liked it. "I like that," he confirmed. "Why don't I just call you that instead of Cuddy?"

"I guess it's part of the professional atmosphere," she shrugged. "God, I don't remember the last time you actually called me Lisa. It must have been twenty years ago," she laughed.

"I've known you for twenty years?" House asked, obviously surprised.

Cuddy nodded slowly and hoped that House didn't inquire into their past relationship. It was just something that they never talked about, like an unspoken rule. It was easier to pretend like they hadn't known each other before Cuddy hired him.

"We went to the same school for a while," she nodded, hoping to keep this part of the conversation to a minimum. "Me as an undergrad and you as a med student."

"Were we friends?" he asked, like he hoped the answer was 'yes.'

"Kind of," she said, nodding her head from side to side. House looked like he wanted further explanation but Cuddy quickly changed the subject. "So, what do you think of this place?"

"This particular room, or the hospital in general?"

"Both, I guess."

"I like it…them," he shrugged. "Whichever. It seems like a good place to work." House thought back to his tour from earlier and he smiled. "My office is big."

"Mm hm, you badgered me into giving it you," Cuddy teased with a smile.

"From the way you and Wilson describe me, I'm starting to get the feeling that I'm a bit of a hand full."

Cuddy laughed and nodded her head. "You have no idea."

House smiled. He liked the way Cuddy looked when she laughed, and he liked the throaty sound of it. He found himself thinking up questions just so she would stay and talk to him.

"Do you like your job?" he asked.

"Yeah," Cuddy nodded and sighed. "It can be a little much sometimes. I feel like I'm married to the hospital, and I don't really like to leave it in the care of anyone else." Cuddy was almost a little surprised that she had admitted that because House always called her a control freak. She knew that description was true to a certain extent, but the fact of the matter was that women didn't get to where she was in life without being a little possessive and controlling. It was just part of the game.

House nodded and his eyes fell to her hands, which were folding neatly on the side of his bed. Her mention of being married to the hospital immediately made him wonder if she was really married. A wedding ring was conspicuously absent.

"So what does your boyfriend think about you staying here so late?" he asked, with a boyish curiosity. Cuddy smirked.

"Smooth way to transition into that conversation," she shook her head. "I don't have a boyfriend _per se_. There's a guy I'm kind of seeing but I don't know if it'll get serious or not."

"Why aren't you married?" House asked.

She narrowed her eyes at him, and House was sure that she was about tell him that the questions were becoming too personal. He was shocked when she answered.

"Never had time to meet that guy," she sighed. "I wanted to achieve my goals and by the time I made it here, I was past that prime age that men like for their women to be." Cuddy rolled her eyes and House gave her the onceover. She didn't look like she had passed her expiration date to him.

House looked at his own finger and was happy to note that it, too, was empty. That gave him plenty of room to hit on Cuddy.

"Well all the guys must be blind if they're not lining up at your door," he said sweetly. Cuddy narrowed her eyes because she had been conditioned to question anything that resembled a compliment when it came from House's lips.

"You really are sick, aren't you?" she asked with a lopsided smile.

"What? I don't usually compliment you? I find that hard to believe."

"You don't compliment anyone," she laughed. "And when you do, it's usually a backhanded one. Like, 'Cuddy, your ass is looking especially large today.'"

House laughed at his own sense of humor and was rewarded with another laugh from Cuddy.

"You don't get upset when I say things like that?" he wondered, hoping to learn what types of things made Lisa Cuddy tick.

"I don't hate it," she shrugged. "I've come to accept that's just House."

"You like it," he accused, getting that familiar look of steely determination in his eyes. For a second, he looked like his old, mischievous self.

"I _don't_ like it," Cuddy insisted, even though she wasn't even sure if she believed herself. "I've simply learned to deal with your strange sense of humor."

"Knock, knock," another voice said, causing them to turn their attention to the door. Wilson walked in, carrying a smile and a bag that had a big grease spot on the bottom. "I come bearing gifts. I hope you're hungry."

"I am," House nodded. He was quickly beginning to see why he would have Wilson as his best friend. The guy was nice and considerate…he'd already bought House breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And it wasn't any of that crappy hospital food.

"What about you, Cuddy? I could share some of mine with you," Wilson offered.

"I'm fine," she waved her hand. "I'm probably about to pack it in and head home anyway."

"Are you sure you don't just want to sit with us for a minute? I'll leave with you and walk you out," Wilson said. It didn't take much to convince her, and she sank back into her seat.

For the next thirty minutes or so, the three of them sat around and talked and watched TV. The conversation was mostly filled with Cuddy and Wilson informing House of some of the cool and weird cases that he'd solved. It felt good and relaxed, and Cuddy realized that House and Wilson were probably her two best friends. She saw them every day and they had business relationships, but she liked them too. Even when House was completely insufferable.

"So Wilson," House spoke up, feeling a little more comfortable with himself. "Don't you think it's weird that Cuddy isn't taken?"

Wilson nearly coughed up his noodles and he saw Cuddy roll her eyes with a smirk on her face. "Well, I see that losing your memory hadn't done anything to curb your curiosity," Wilson said sarcastically.

"I just don't get why somebody hasn't scooped her up already."

"'_Her_' is in the room, you know," Cuddy said, feigning annoyance.

"Do you want to go on a date with me?" House asked, completely unafraid of the consequences. That time, Wilson did cough up a noodle and Cuddy's eyebrows shot off her head.

"What? You don't even remember me, much less yourself. Don't you want a little time to figure things out before you start trying to hit on me?"

"I like you," he shrugged simply.

"House, you barely know me right now," Cuddy said, trying to talk some sense into him. Not that she wasn't flattered or shocked…she was both of those things. If this had been the real House asking her on a date, she would have said yes in a heartbeat. But she couldn't trust this new House and his sincerity, at least not yet.

"So what?" House asked, with a small smile. "I know you like me. Wilson said you stayed here the whole time I was sleeping. And I can just tell how you look at me."

Cuddy was stumped into silence, and Wilson laughed to himself. "He's still got his good observation skills, too," he noted.

"No," Cuddy told him finally, as she stood up and sighed. "You need some rest. You're going to hate yourself when you actually start remembering things, and I'll get the brunt of it." She gave him a small smile and nodded her head towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She started to walk out and Wilson jumped up to follow her. "Be right back," he said to House.

Wilson followed Cuddy to the elevator and he barely squeezed himself in before the doors closed. "At the risk of sounding obvious, I think House has a crush on you."

Cuddy recognized the pure glee on Wilson's face, but she laughed and rolled her eyes. "He's attracted to me. That's nothing new. He always has been."

"So…?"

"So House is the same guy, Wilson. He likes what he sees, but I don't want to get involved with him while he's like this. He'll only push me away once he gets back to his old self."

"Cuddy, this is a good thing," he tried to insist. He wanted so desperately to see his two friends happy, with each other, because whether they realized it not, they were only going to be happy with one another. They were both stubborn as mules, headstrong, and opinionated. They were a match made in the lowest rung of Hell, but a match nonetheless. Cuddy was the only woman that could truly love House for who he was, and House was the measure against whom she weighed every man she dated. Wilson didn't see why they just didn't get it over with and admit their feelings.

Now seemed as good a time as any.

"No," Cuddy said again, as the elevator doors opened. "I would be taking advantage of him. If he really felt this way all the time, he should have said something by now."

"You know that's not House's style," Wilson reminded her as he followed her into her office. Cuddy gathered up her things and turned the lights off and he had to scramble to keep up with her as she headed towards the exit.

"Wilson," Cuddy said, turning and smiling at him. "You're a good friend. But it's not going to happen."

He sighed and right before Cuddy left, she spun and around and pointing to her chest. "Do you think this top is cut low enough, or should I wear something more provocative tomorrow?"

Wilson gulped and hesitantly looked at her chest. She did have a nice pair, although he tried not to notice.

"Uh…"

"For House, I mean. To get his attention."

Wilson found himself truly confused. "But I thought you said you didn't want him like this."

"I don't. It doesn't mean I can't have a little fun teasing him," Cuddy said with an evil smirk.

"Cuddy, that's just mean," Wilson told her, but she shrugged. "The guy's vulnerable right now."

"House makes my life a living hell every day. I think it's time for some payback."

Cuddy smiled at him, that same smile she got whenever she was doing something that she knew she wasn't supposed to, and she turned and walked out. Wilson shook his head and chuckled to himself. He knew that House was in trouble because Cuddy was going to make him work for it.

It was going to be a fun ride.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Cameron twiddled her thumbs on the table, her chin in her other hand. The office had been dreadfully quiet ever since House's accident. After a couple of days of rest and monitoring, Cuddy had sent him home to recover. Wilson did his best friend duty by staying over at House's place, helping him get adjusted. Cameron had stopped by once, just to say 'hi' and see how he was doing. She was still a little taken aback at how nice he was. He'd opened the door, smiled, and told her to come in. It was like living in the Twilight Zone. She was just waiting on him to smirk and tell them all that it was a big joke.

For the rest of the week, Cameron was stuck with her playmates as they tried to figure out cases on their own. Cuddy and Wilson helped when they could, but nobody thought quite like House did. Foreman was probably the closest to the real deal, and the test he'd ordered had nearly killed their patient.

"I think we should go home," Chase said in his thick Australian accent. His chin was resting on the table and he pouted when Cameron looked at him. "I'm bored."

"Same here," Foreman sighed. "I had to admit it, but life just isn't the same without House here to yell at us and call us morons."

"Aw, you guys miss your daddy?" Cameron teased, and Foreman just chuckled. None of them would come out and say it, except maybe Cameron, but they did kind of miss their authoritative, fatherly figure. Granted, House was like an abusive father, but still, he was _their_ abusive father.

"You kiddies look depressed," Wilson teased, as he stuck his head in the door.

"No House, no fun," Cameron pouted.

"I'll have to remember to tell him that. We're going down to the bar when a little later. Do you guys want to join us?"

"Drinking with House?" Chase scrunched up his face. "Sounds like verbal abuse waiting to happen."

"He's different," Cameron defended.

"Yeah, as weird as it is," Wilson agreed with a nod. "It might actually be…fun. You guys should come. I think he'd appreciate getting out of the house and being around people."

"I'm in," Cameron said cheerily. Any extra time she spent with House was good in her mind.

"Sure, why not?" Foreman shrugged.

"I guess I'll go with the democracy," Chase said, still not lifting his chin off the table.

"Meet us there around ten," Wilson told him.

He left the forlorn ducklings to wallow in their boredom and Wilson chuckled to himself as he made his way to the elevator. It had been a strange week, to say the least. The hospital was eerily devoid of ruckus without House to terrorize any and everyone. Wilson was sure that Old House would never have believed that his team actually missed him. He would just say they were masochists for missing him, as badly as he treated them. And Wilson probably would agree. He had often wondered about his own sanity and the weird need he had by stick to House when nobody else would. House liked to pretend that he was above friendship, but he was still human under all those frowns. He showed it every now and then. And it was really nice to see more, now that House couldn't remember the things that had made him so miserable in the first place.

"Knock, knock," Wilson said, gently poking his head into Cuddy's office. She looked up and gave him a tired smile before returning her attention to her computer and typing away.

"You headed out?" she asked.

"Yeah, I am. I'm taking House out for a drink. The ducklings are coming with us. You want in?"

"Uh, I don't know," Cuddy said, in a voice that gave away her exhaustion. She would have thought that without House around to make her life miserable, things would have gone smoothly. Quite the opposite. At least from her end, the hospital was as hectic as ever.

"Are you sure? It'll be fun. Everybody will get a chance to unwind," Wilson said, hoping he could talk her into going. For one thing, he just liked hanging around Cuddy. Besides House, she was his best friend. And he was also wanted her to join them for House's sake. The poor guy had been asking about her all week.

"Where are you going?"

"Maggie's," Wilson said. "I'll buy you a drink," he said, hoping to appease her. Cuddy gave him a tired smile.

"I think I'll take a rain check. Next time, though."

Wilson wanted to remind her that next time, House might be back to his old ways. But he could tell that she was run-down, so he didn't push it. He told her good night and headed out to the parking lot.

He drove to House's place and let himself in with his extra key, and he wasn't at all surprised to find House seated at the piano. For the last few days, that seemed to be all House did: wake up, eat, and play the piano. At first, he had fumbled around the keys but then all of a sudden, he was playing like the seasoned veteran that he was. Wilson likened it to riding a bicycle: it just took a couple of tries before the memory of it flowed back with ease.

"Have you moved from that spot today?" Wilson asked with a smile, almost feeling like the nagging wife. House gave him a smile and shrugged.

"I like playing this," he said, his fingers playing a soft melody. "This is the most relaxing thing in the world."

"Are you feeling up to going to the bar tonight? I invited your team and they're going to meet us down there."

"Sure," House told him, the volume on the piano increasing just slightly. "Is Cuddy coming?"

Wilson hated to disappoint his friend, but he shook his head and gave him a disappointed look. "I don't think so. I asked her, but she looked pretty busy and tired."

"She works too much," House surmised. "All work and no play."

"She's running the hospital. She's got a lot on her plate."

"She needs to get laid."

Wilson broke into laughter as he slumped onto the couch and shook his head. "You sound like your old self right now. Let me guess…you want to be the one to help relax her?"

"Naturally," House nodded.

"I'm sure if she had time to get laid, she would. I mean, she is pretty hot."

"Beautiful," House corrected, sliding his long fingers down the piano in dramatic effect. Wilson raised his eyebrows. He had heard House call Cuddy a lot of things, but beautiful was not one of them. Clearly, the adjective was fitting, but it just wasn't something that House would say. It called for too much affection.

"I'm gonna take a shower and then we can go," Wilson said. "I told them to meet us at ten."

House nodded and returned his sole attention to the lovely instrument. He found that he could spend all day playing it, coming up with songs in his head. That was one thing that he had noticed about himself: his obsessive tendencies. Once he got an idea into his head, he had a one-track mind. Wilson told him that was what made him such a great doctor. He wouldn't relinquish the puzzle until he solved it.

House found himself wondering about the puzzle that was Lisa Cuddy. She had called and checked on him every day while he was at home, but she hadn't visited. He wondered why that was. Cameron had come by, and it was clear to him that Cameron had a thing for him. She was pretty, obviously, and sweet and smart. He didn't quite see what she saw in him, considering he was much older and had a reputation of not being very nice. Maybe she was one of those girls who liked the chase or the unattainable. Either way, he liked Cameron but he was intrigued by Cuddy. He supposed that if Cuddy wasn't interested, maybe he would give the younger woman a shot. After all, he wasn't getting any younger and he had yet to find any pictures of any women around his apartment. Just like his desk in his office, his place was pretty much empty of any personal touches: no pictures of family or a girlfriend. No kids. No dog.

It seemed as good a time as any to start anew and have something special with somebody. He didn't know why he felt such an attraction to Cuddy, aside from the fact that she was obviously a gorgeous woman. There was more to it than that, though. Still, if she wasn't interested, he would have to find companionship in someone else. After all, Wilson couldn't be his live-in best friend forever.

"Ready?" Wilson asked, reappearing in the living room.

The two guys left the apartment and headed to Maggie's, and a couple of minutes after they sat down at a half-moon shaped table, the team showed up. Foreman and Chase scooted in on Wilson's side, and House stood up and let Cameron slid into the middle and he sat next to her. She seemed happy about that.

"Well I can honestly say that I never thought we'd hanging out drinking with you, House," Foreman said with a smile. "But strangely, it's kind of cool."

House smiled and nodded, and a waiter came over and took their drink orders. House didn't know his own taste in alcoholic beverages, so Wilson ordered a rum and coke for him. The group sat around and talked and drank casually, and House found himself having a good time. The conversation was surprisingly easy and funny. Although House hadn't spent much time with them since his accident, he could immediately see why he had picked his team. They were all brilliant in their own ways, and they had had a relationship with each other that was something like a sibling rivalry.

"I'm gonna go shoot a round of pool," Wilson said, motioning for Foreman and Chase to move so he could get out. "Any takers?"

"Sure, I'm in," Chase told him.

"Yeah, me too. Any wagers?" Foreman asked.

"$50 a shot?" Wilson asked.

"Whoa, we don't all make oncologist money," Foreman smiled, and Wilson laughed.

"All right, $20?"

"Sounds more reasonable," Chase nodded. The three of them walked to the back area, where a few pool tables were open. And that left House and Cameron at the table alone.

"So, how are you feeling?" she asked, taking a sip of her frozen daiquiri.

"Pretty good right now," House laughed, nodding at his empty glass. He was waiting on a refill from the waiter. "Do you and Chase have a thing going on?" he asked, his tongue a little loose from the drinks. Cameron's face reddened.

"What? No, why do you ask that?"

"He stares at you a lot," House told her matter-of-factly. "I think he likes you."

"I'm not interested," she waved her hand. The glint in her eye told her which person she was interested in, as if House hadn't already figured that out. He nodded slowly and thanked the waiter or his extra drink. He was about to ask Cameron why in the world she was attracted to him of all people, when Cameron's eyes darted to the front door. House followed her gaze, and he couldn't stop the smile on his face when he saw a chilly-looking Cuddy as she entered the bar. She looked around, and House excused himself, much to Cameron's dismay.

"Cuddy," he said over the music playing loudly in the bar. Her head whipped around in his direction and she smiled.

"I thought you weren't coming," he said, even though he was as pleased as punch that she had indeed decided to join them.

"I wasn't," she nodded. "But then I thought, why not? I don't get to just hang out very often."

"Well, I'm glad you're here," House said with a sincerity that still surprised her. And she was really shocked when he slid her coat off her for. "Do you want me to get you a drink?"

"Sure. Amaretto Sour."

House repeated that to himself and walked to the bar, and Cuddy smiled before spotting Cameron at a table by herself. Cuddy tried not to feel the annoying tinge of jealousy that she always felt when she was confronted with the pretty, younger doctor. Cuddy was not one to feel threatened or outdone by anybody, but Cameron's obvious affection for House had always annoyed her…even if she didn't admit it. But she put on a smile and slid into the booth.

"Dr. Cameron," she said with a nod. "Just sitting here alone?"

"No, I was with House," Cameron responded, a certain snarky nature to her tone. "The guys are back there playing pool."

"Oh," Cuddy responded, thinking that a good game of pool might be a good stress reliever.

"Here's your drink," House said, handing her the small but wide glass of dark liquid.

"Thanks," Cuddy smiled brightly. She took the glass and slid out of the booth, and House frowned.

"Where are you going?"

"To shoot pool with the boys," she answered, her voice portraying her cool and confident demeanor. House could tell that she was one of those women who got off on one-upping "the boys," and he smiled and followed her. Cameron rolled her eyes and followed them both to the back.

"I've got the winner," Cuddy announced, after taking a sip of her drink. Again, House smiled at her attitude. She was feisty and that turned him on.

"After me," Foreman told her.

The game between Wilson and Chase ended quickly, since Chase couldn't hit a shot to save his life and Wilson was knocking down everything. The younger doctor groaned and forked over his money. The match between Foreman and Wilson was much more interesting, but Foreman came out as the winner.

"Oh!" everyone said as Foreman sank the eight ball from a very difficult angle.

"Nice shot, Foreman," Cameron laughed, still nursing her daiquiri.

He smiled proudly and nodded, pointing his stick at Cuddy. "Bring it on, Boss Lady."

"You'd better watch how you wield that stick," she said in a sultry tone. Cuddy purposely looked at House and smiled slowly. "Because I know how to handle it."

House gulped and Wilson covered his mouth to suppress his laughter. Cuddy could be devastatingly sexy, whether she was trying to or not. And when she was actually putting forth an effort, all the men within a ten-mile radius were in trouble.

"Try not to drool," he said out of the side of his mouth to House. House cocked an eyebrow and watched as Cuddy leaned over the table, pool stick poised in hand, as she prepared to break the balls on the table. Her position gave everyone a nice good shot down the front of her top, revealing just enough flesh to whet their collective whistle.

"Daaaaamn," Chase said lowly.

"Oh please," Cameron muttered, with a roll of her eyes. Cuddy knew all too well how to harness her femininity and sexuality to stupefy all the men in her presence. Secretly, Cameron was a little jealous of that. She wanted the confidence and know-how that Cuddy had seemed to master so easily. Had the two women not been locked in a silent battle for House's affections, Cameron might have looked at Cuddy as a role model. For now, though, she was public enemy number one.

Throughout the match with Foreman, Cuddy found herself standing near House on several occasions. She purposely bent over in front of him for a shot, and a few times, she had brushed her ass right against him. House was like a little puppy, following her every move and making sure he got a good view of everything she did. The woman had him entranced.

"Don't you think Cuddy teasing him like this is a little…evil?" Cameron asked Wilson, clearly annoyed at the silent strangle hold Cuddy seemed to have over a vulnerable House.

"Actually, I think it's very evil," Wilson said, albeit with a laugh. "It's pretty funny, too."

"He's totally vulnerable right now," Cameron frowned. Had it been up to her, she would have been nursing House back to health with some cookies, blankets, and stories about feelings. Not unabashedly seducing him like Cuddy.

"As much as he teases her, I think this might be sweet justice."

Meanwhile, House may have been at a disadvantage because he didn't remember how he teased and embarrassed Cuddy on a daily basis. That disadvantage, though, didn't blind him to the fact that Cuddy was messing with him. He could tell that from the obviousness of her flirtations and the devious little smile on her face. He didn't care, though. The truth was that he liked the attention and the brushes against him, and the way her perfume hung in the air even after she had walked away. She appealed to all of his senses.

"That's game," Cuddy said, drinking the last of her Amaretto. "Pay up."

She held her hand out to Foreman, who reluctantly handed over the money had had just scored off of Wilson. Cuddy grinned but then pouted when she looked at her empty glass. "I need a refill," she said to nobody in particular. House took the glass and smiled.

"I'll buy you another if you walk over there with me."

"Sure," she smiled, laying her pool stick on the table. They walked together to the bar and sat on the stools, and House ordered her another drink. He folded his hands on the counter and then he narrowed his eyes at her, like he was trying to figure her out.

"What?" she smiled.

"Do you always tease me like this?" House asked, and Cuddy chuckled innocently.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Oh, you know. The cute little laughs and the 'accidental' touches," House said, using air quotes when he said 'accidental.' "I think you're trying to take advantage of me."

"Oh please," Cuddy laughed, genuinely amused. "If you remembered even _half_ of the stuff you have said and done to me, you would realize how tame I'm being."

"So this is payback then," he concluded.

"Something like that," she nodded, with a proud smile. House smiled and watched as she took a sip of her newly refilled beverage.

"So what do you like do to? Besides teasing a poor, helpless, memory-less guy like myself?"

"Yes, annoying you is at the top of my list," Cuddy replied in that patented deadpan voice.

"I never said it was annoying," House winked. Cuddy smiled and shook her head.

"I don't know what I like," she shrugged, getting back to his question.

"What do you do in your free time?" he reframed the question.

"What free time?" she laughed. "On the rare, precious moments that I do have to myself, I guess I like to relax. Read. Do yoga."

"Yoga," House mouthed, openly running his eyes over her body. "So that's who I can thank for that hot body."

"Zesty bod," Cuddy corrected. "That's what you call it. And these," she said, pointing boldly to her breasts, "are fun bags."

"I'll keep that in mind," House grinned.

"Oh, I love this song," Cuddy said, instantly tapping her fingers along the counter. House didn't recognize it, and that was almost surprising considering that he had spent the last few days engulfed in music. If he wasn't at his piano, he was listening to his iPod or his many volumes of records. Music was clearly his second passion.

"What is it?" he asked, wondering if he had the song buried somewhere in the endless playlist of his iPod.

"'Know you Now,' by Amy Winehouse," Cuddy told him, sipping her drink again.

"Doesn't ring a bell."

"I don't care what people say about her, the woman can sing. She may be a total crackhead, but her music goes right to my soul," Cuddy said. She finished off her drink and then stood up, feeling the warmth of the alcohol as it traveled to her stomach. She smiled at House and then leaned in and kissed his cheek. "I'm calling it a night."

"So early?" he asked, clearly disappointed.

"Hey, I got some free drinks and swiped some money off of Foreman. It's been productive."

She smiled and started to walk off, but House followed her outside to her car. He stood right next to her door as she slid into her seat and she rolled down the window and smiled at him.

"You know, I could get used to this chivalrous side of you."

"So are you saying that you accept my offer of a date?" House asked with a cute, boyish grin. Cuddy chuckled and shook her head.

"Nope. Good night."

House watched her drive off and he smiled. He liked Cuddy. She was a challenge. And he didn't care how long it took…he was going to wear her down.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all the feedback! And I really like that people are enjoying Cuddy. I'm trying to keep her as in character as possible, considering that House is, by definition, out of character...at least for now. Let me know what you think.**

Chapter 5

House sat at the table in his team's conference room, wishing that he didn't feel so useless. It was Monday, and he had returned to work in the hopes that he could back into the swing of things. But so far, no dice. Foreman was standing at the white board, writing down the symptoms of their newest patient: a teenaged boy. Cameron and Chase were shouting out ideas while Foreman wrote them down. But the three of them couldn't agree on anything. They had all different ideas of what was wrong with the boy, and subsequently, each of them had a different course of treatment.

"This is frustrating," Foreman sighed, putting the marker down. All three of the young doctors turned to look at House, pleading silently for him to take control of the situation. House looked at them and felt bad for not knowing what to say.

"Which of you is usually right?" he asked, deciding that he would just go with the odds and use the idea of the person who normally knew what to do.

"The first time? Nobody," Cameron told him. "We usually have to try three or four different things before you come up with some weird epiphany and fix the person."

"I've been right a few times," Chase defended.

Foreman rolled his eyes and looked at House like he just wanted to get out of the room. "Will you just pick somebody so we can feel better about doing something for this kid?"

"You seem to be the leader," House said. "I pick you. Foreman's idea sounds good."

Chase rolled his eyes and Foreman smiled. The three of them disappeared and House sighed. He milled around the conference room before walking into his private office. He sat down behind his desk and decided to spend some time listening to music. He had barely even made a dent in the seemingly endless supply of music on his iPod, so he slid the small headphones into his ears and pushed 'play.' He had recently downloaded some Amy Winehouse, and he had to admit that he enjoyed her brand of music. It was soulful, blues-y, and jazzy…all combined with Amy's unique voice. He could see why Cuddy liked her.

House had no idea how long he had his eyes closed, jamming out to 'Addicted,' but he popped them open and smiled when he saw Cuddy sitting on the edge of his desk. She smiled at him and he took his headphones out.

"I have to agree," he said. Cuddy made a face.

"Agree with…?"

"Crackhead or not, this Winehouse girl isn't half bad."

Cuddy chuckled and nodded, happy with her taste in music. "I told you. How are you doing?"

"Fine," House shrugged. "I feel like I'm doing absolutely nothing, though."

"Believe it or not, this is what you normally do," she teased. "You send your team off to do the hard work while you sit in here and listen to music, avoiding me like the plague."

"Avoiding you?" he scoffed. "I find that highly unlikely."

Cuddy smiled and patted his hand. "Well I just wanted to check on you. If you need anything, my office is on the first floor. Right across from the clinic."

"I'll keep that in mind," House told her. He watched her sashay out of his office, his eyes transfixed on that lovely behind of hers. He smiled and returned to his music. He almost didn't notice the next song because he was preoccupied with the lingering scent of Cuddy. He didn't know how to describe it, except that she smelled sweet and soft and feminine. He closed his eyes and lost himself in his thoughts of her.

…

_The pre-med track at the University of Michigan was notoriously difficult and time-consuming. Undergraduates who stuck with that course throughout their entire four-year career either really loved medicine, or they had a death wish. Either way, only the truly brave souls signed up for the toughest classes, including Diagnostic Medicine. Each year, that particular class was taught by someone different: renowned professors, well-respected doctors, and experts in the field. This year, the school was doing a little something different. They were letting a new type of person teach the class._

_And that person's name was Gregory House. In the science circles on the campus of Michigan, Greg House was nothing short of a legend. He was a rebel, an ass, and a certified genius. He'd figured out cases that even the most well-trained professionals still scratched their heads over. There were rumors that he had sneaked into a patient's room and medicated him with a new drug that had only been tested on mice. Luckily for House, the man lived. And from there, a monster was created. House walked the campus like he owned it and even some professors were afraid to tell the young man what to do._

_So as seniors from the graduating class trickled into the auditorium-style classroom, Greg House stood at the front of the room and watched. That was one thing that made him as great as he was: he was observant. He knew how to read people just by looking at them. His cold blue eyes scanned the crowd of students and he wondered how many he could scare off by just being himself. He waited until the door closed behind the last student, and he looked into the crowd and began to speak._

"_My name is Gregory House," he spoke, even though he was sure that the kids knew who he was. "I am in my last year of medical school here. I assume that some of you have heard of me, and let me assure you that the rumors are all true."_

_There were a few laughs sprinkled across the room, and House frowned. He hated suck-ups._

"_Let me begin by saying that I don't plan to learn your names. It's not that I can't remember them." He shrugged. "I just don't care to know any of you. You," he said, pointing to an Asian kid in the front. "Don't be mad if I confuse you with her," he said pointing to another Asian kid. "You all look the same to me."_

_House had to bite back a grin when he saw some of the shocked faces after his comment. He liked to shock people and do the unexpected. He liked to cut the crap and politeness out of every day life because the fact was that it was all bullshit anyway. He only said what other people were too afraid to say._

"_I will teach in the Socratic method," House continued, pacing back and forth and noting that some of the students were trying to take notes. He didn't know why: he hadn't said anything noteworthy. It just went to show how stupid people were sometimes. Overachievers._

"_That means I'll go down the roll, pick a random name, and humiliate you in front of your classmates for an hour. How does that sound to everybody?"_

_Some of the students shifted in their seats, and one person actually got up and left. House smiled. _

"_Smart kid. Any other takers?"_

_Two more people stood up and walked out, and House waited for a whole minute before continuing._

"_You were assigned to read chapter one of the book for today." House meandered over to the podium and picked up a sheet of paper. "Mr. Evans," he called._

_A scared-looking, glasses-wearing kid in the third row raised his hand. "Here," he said, raising his hand._

"_Do you believe everything everyone tells you?"_

_Mr. Evans looked frightened of answering incorrectly and he gulped a few times before shaking his head. "Uh…n-no."_

"_G-good," House said, clearly mocking him. "First rule: everybody lies. The sooner you learn to see through the crap people tell you, the sooner you'll figure out what's wrong with them." House shrugged and paced as he elaborated his point. "People lie to their doctors, whether you want to believe it or not. Going to the doctor can be a humiliating experience in and of itself, and people want to hold on whatever pride they have while you're staring at their hairy butt cheeks."_

_Mr. Evans still looked frightened. House smiled. "Tell me three facts about yourself and make sure that one of them is a lie. Go."_

_Evans shifted in his seat and he tried to think quickly, while House clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth to take ticking noises._

"_I'm from Michigan," Evans finally said. "My parents are divorced, and I have a girlfriend."_

_House smiled and pointed to Mr. Evans. "Ah, very clever. You put in that last one to throw me off because you think that I think you're a loser and therefore could not have a girlfriend. You're right, I do think you're a loser, but somewhere on this campus is a girl who finds you lovable anyway." House narrowed his eyes at the young man. "Your parents aren't divorced."_

_Evans shifted in his seat and looked at House like he was a mind reader. "How did you know?"_

"_You're wearing a Michigan shirt and hat, which means you too excited to be here and therefore you must be from this god forsaken place. Your clothes are too neat for you not to have two parents to look after you." House went back to his podium and called out another name. He spent the next hour calling on people, telling them to lie to him, and he was able to pick out the lie in every single instance. He was feeling quite proud of himself._

"_One more," he said, running his finger down the roll. "Ms. Cuddy."_

"_Yes," a low voice answered. House looked up and saw a young woman with her hand in the air. He was immediately struck by her beauty and somewhat exotic looks. She had a lot of thick, black hair, and her eyes popped all the way from her seat in the middle row. She had something of a smirk on her face, and House smiled._

"_Ms. Cuddy. Lie to me."_

_Cuddy seemed to think for a moment, but House could tell that she'd already come up with three facts, just in case he called on her._

"_I'm from New Jersey. I'm not wearing panties. And I'm a virgin."_

_The whole class turned to look at her, and Cuddy sat proudly, with a smile on her face. House looked at her and bit back a smile. He liked her already because this girl had balls. Figuratively, of course._

_He tapped his fingers and quickly thought. The New Jersey part had to be true. She was too bold not to be from some brazen place like New Jersey or New York. The panties thing…he didn't want to think about that. Was she wearing them or not? That was the question. He looked at her again and decided that she was far too sure of herself to be a virgin, but rather than call her out on it, he looked at his watch and smiled._

"_Darn. Time's up. We'll continue this next time."_

_The class broken into murmurs of discussion as they exited the classroom. House watched Ms. Cuddy as she stood up and walked out of the classroom and a grin broke out on his face when he saw the way her jeans clung to her butt. He searched high and low for a panty line but he didn't see one. He chuckled to himself and wondered exactly which part Cuddy had lied to him about._

…

_The early evenings of summer were House's favorite. The weather was perfect and the sun always seemed to set at just the right time. His backpack was slung over his shoulder and he walked from his apartment on-campus to the Music & Arts building. He had done his rotations for the day after teaching that class, so the rest of the night was his. And when he had free time, he loved to spend it playing music. He didn't have the money to buy a piano, and hauling his mom's all the way to school wouldn't work. So he always sneaked into the Music building and found an empty studio, where a piano would be waiting for him._

_Tonight was no different. He found a room and tossed his backpack off, eagerly sitting on the stool and stroking the keys with his long, lean fingers. He loved playing the piano because it eased him and gave him some time to think about nothing. All he had to do was be there, in the moment. House closed his eyes and played, even though he had no idea for how long. His ears tweaked when he heard a familiar voice out in the hallway, and he stopped playing to focus in the on the sound. He didn't recognize it immediately, but then it clicked in his brain._

_Ms. Cuddy._

_House smiled and eased off the stool. He opened the door and looked outside, where indeed the No Panties Virgin was laughing it up with some guy. He didn't know why he felt jealous, considering he barely knew her from Eve. _

"_Cuddy," he said. She spun around and smiled at him._

"_I'll see you later," she said to her male friend. She turned around again and walked in House's direction._

"_I thought you didn't remember names," she said, that air of confidence about her._

"_Well, it's pretty hard to forget the girl who claimed not to be wearing panties."_

"_Did you figure out which one was a lie?" Cuddy asked, crossing her arms over her chest. House stole a quick peek at the cleavage that was offered to him, and he bit her lip and cocked his head to the side._

"_You're definitely not a virgin."_

"_What makes you so sure?"_

"_A virgin who doesn't wear panties?" he asked. "Show me one of those and I'll show you a woman who needs to be my wife."_

_Cuddy laughed, tossing her head back slightly, and House gave her a quick visual examination. The girl was hot, that was for sure. And she seemed like she was able to match wits with him. What a turn-on. Most girls were intimidated by him._

"_What are you doing in the music building?" she asked._

"_I could ask you the same."_

"_Visiting a friend," she shrugged nonchalantly._

"_Boyfriend?" House asked, narrowing his eyes at her._

"_None of your business."_

_Cuddy eyed him and then spun on her heels. "See you later, House," she said over her shoulder._

_House watched her walk away and then he slid back into his own space. He thought about his new adversary and smirked to himself. He was very attracted to her but he knew nothing would ever come of it. She was young, 21 at the oldest. House was about to turn 27. She was a student, he was her teacher, and at the end of the year, he was headed back to Hopkins to start his residency. Still, that didn't change the fact that he found her absolutely delectable._

_And before he could think about it, his fingers were dancing across the keys to the tune of "You Can't Always Get What You Want." He chuckled to himself. It was going to be a long year._

…

House's eyes snapped open and stopped the iPod right in the middle of the song he had just been thinking about. He remembered something, and that was exciting. He took a minute to replay the memory in his head and he smiled when he thought of Cuddy. It seemed as though she had always been a hellcat. He got out of his seat and went down to the first floor, and he opened the first door that led to Cuddy's office. When he got to the second door, he tapped his knuckles on the glass and Cuddy looked up like she was surprised to see him. She waved him in.

"Are you busy?" he asked.

"No, I'm just shocked," she laughed. "You knocked. You never knock."

"Tell me three things and make sure one of them is a lie."

Cuddy stared at him for a minute and then cocked her head to the side and smiled slowly. "Is that just a coincidence or do you remember that?"

"I remember you frying my brain with thoughts of you not wearing panties."

Cuddy tossed her head back and laughed, much like she had done in House's memory. "Good!" she said excitedly. "You're remembering. This is great."

House nodded and smiled and he approached her desk. He planted his hands on the wood and leaned down. "So…how about it? Tell me a lie."

Cuddy smiled and took a moment to come up with something good. "I will go on a date with you, I'm still not wearing underwear, and I have a meeting at one."

House smirked and turned her appointment book around so he could see her schedule. "You do have a meeting at one, and I'm assuming you still won't go on a date with me, so…that just leaves the panties."

Cuddy winked and stood up from her desk, making sure to shake what her mother gave her as she waltzed out of the room. He stared and grinned as he watched her talk to somebody at the nurses' station.

Damn that woman.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Cuddy's ponytail flopped against the back of her neck and beads of sweat rolled from her forehead down the contours of her face. The iPod strapped on her arm blasted Beyonce's latest upbeat song, and Cuddy found her footsteps going in time with the rhythm. She breathed through her nose as she rounded the track one last time, and then she slowed down a halt and put her fingers to her neck to measure her heart rate. It felt good to get out and run, and normally she would have just run around her neighborhood a couple of times in order to get a good workout. But she hadn't gotten off of work until it eight o'clock, and even though she lived in a good neighborhood, she didn't necessarily think it was a good idea to take a night jog.

So she found herself at the Princeton University gymnasium. It was only a stone's throw away from the hospital, and the university had given all the staff of PPTH free passes to use the gym whenever they wanted. So Cuddy decided to take advantage of that and run a couple of miles on the indoor track. Running not only kept her in shape, but it cleared her head. Work, as always, was stressing her out and she was just praying for the end of the week.

After a respite and a cool-down period, Cuddy grabbed her towel and started to walk out of the gym. The place was packed, even though it was late on a school night. On the way out, she had to walk by the racquetball courts and she stopped when she noticed two familiar forms in one of the glass-encased courts. Cuddy smiled and decided to take a minute to observe House and Wilson and their intense back-and-forth game. They were having fun, laughing, and House was smiling. Cuddy loved to see him smile. She loved to see him happy. He was regaining his memories, slowly but surely, and it had all started with that memory of meeting her. Cuddy hated to admit how happy she was about that.

She walked out of the gym before House and Wilson could see her, and she hopped into her car and drove home. She took a long hot shower and made herself some tea, and then she started a fire and curled up on her couch. She sipped her tea and thought about what all she had to do the next day. Her schedule was lighter than usual. No meetings or donor tours. She'd probably still have mountains of paperwork but that was to be expected. Cuddy let her mind drift and she found herself thinking about House again. She'd always had a thing for him, even if she denied it until she was blue in the face. Even when he was being a complete asshole with no regard for other people's feelings, she couldn't make herself stop liking him.

A slow smile crept across her face and she tucked her knees underneath her as she recalled one of her very fondest memories about him. Her face reddened at the idea that House might remember this very thought. She wondered how he would react when he remembered how up close and personal they had gotten one night…

…

_Michigan was one of those huge state schools, which meant that the student population was very diverse. Some of the kids were geniuses, there on full scholarships to entice them to stay in their home states after graduation. Some were there for sports, and they had the run of the campus. Some were destined to become frat boys and sorority girls, boozing it up at every opportunity. Whichever category a person fit into really didn't matter, though, because all the students had one thing in common: they loved to party. There was at least one party, every single night of the weeks. And on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, the whole campus turned into one big drunken celebration._

_Cuddy usually took part in said parties, but this particular Friday was a bit different. On the following Monday, she was going to have her Diagnostic Medicine final exam. In keeping with House's Socratic Method, the class only had one test and that was the end of the semester. The one-test rule was beneficial in that Cuddy never had to worry about tests or quizzes during the course of the class. However, it also had his drawbacks. All it took was one bad grade, one bad test day, and she would fail the class. The thought was vomit-inducing. She wanted and needed a good grade because she was right in the middle of applying for medical schools._

_So while everyone else was out partying it up before finals, Cuddy was stuck in the so-quiet-you-could-hear-a-pin-drop top floor of the library. She had no idea what to expect on House's test because the guy was like a wily coyote. One second he was talking about lies, the next he could give real case examples, and then he might jump back and forth in between other stories that seemed unrelated. But over the span of the semester, Cuddy had grown to know a little bit about House. He might have seemed random but he was anything but. Everything was related and interconnected in his mind. His mind made for interesting classes and lectures, but she knew his test was going to be a bitch. He got off on surprising people. And that was one thing she liked about him._

_One of the many things she liked about him actually. They flirted on a regular basis and House always had some snarky comment about her body or her underwear. In class, they argued every day. It might have seemed like she didn't like him, but in reality Cuddy had a major league crush on him. How could she not? House was brilliant, sexy, handsome, funny…of course, he was also condescending, rude, and obnoxious. But strangely, Cuddy wasn't turned off by his negative traits. She kind of liked standing up to him and matching wits. Of course, he usually won because he was older, more educated, and more experienced. That didn't stop her from questioning him at every turn, though. _

_Nothing had happened between them except their heated exchanges in class and their flirtatious moments outside of school. Cuddy knew nothing would ever happen either. She figured that in his eyes, she was just a kid. He was grown, already nothing short of a legend on campus, and he was on his way to a very prestigious and coveted residency at Johns Hopkins. She was sure that there were plenty of women who threw their panties in his direction and he probably bagged them all._

_Besides, it wasn't like Cuddy was ready for anything serious either. She had always been the alpha female, the take-charge woman, no matter her level of education. She was the smartest kid in her elementary school, first in junior high, valedictorian of her high school, and well on her way to being number one in her graduating class at Michigan. She had her eyes set on being the best damn physician she could be because anything less was failure. Her one-track mind for success left her little time to form serious relationships. She'd only really been serious about one guy, and that hadn't worked out. Cuddy knew that she was young and she still had plenty of time to find Mr. Right. Until then, she wanted to focus on making herself as successful as she could be._

"_If you keep staring like that, you'll get all cross-eyed," a familiar deep voice said from behind her. Cuddy smiled as she looked down at her book. "And then you'll get stuck that way. That's what my mom used to tell me."_

_House appeared in her vision as he took a seat next to her and Cuddy tilted her head and smiled at him._

"_Well I'm studying for __**your**__ test. So if I become cross-eyed, it's your fault."_

"_Ah, don't blame me. Blame the school. If it were up to me, the final exam would consist of all the girls taking off their tops and leaving me to judge who has the best boobs." House glared at her chest and nodded slowly. "You'd probably win."_

"_Do you sexually harass all your students, or am I special?" she asked, with a hint of laughter in her voice._

"_Not all of them. Just the girls," he clarified._

"_Such a gentleman," she said sarcastically._

"_How long have you been studying?"_

"_All week," she sighed._

"_And you haven't figured out the nature of medicine yet?" he asked, with large blue eyes. "God, Cuddy, I thought you were smart."_

_She cracked a smile and then narrowed her eyes at him. "Did you want something or are you just here to bother me?"_

"_I was here studying for my end-of-rotation exam and I noticed the familiar sight of a girl not wearing panties."_

_Cuddy laughed and then quickly covered her mouth so she didn't disturb everyone else. She punched his arm. "You do realize that when I said I wasn't wearing panties, I was lying, right?"_

"_I prefer to think that you're just not from Jersey," House smiled. _

"_Uh-huh, well unless you're here to tip me off about the test, I need to get back to studying."_

_House opened his mouth but then shut it and smiled when he heard the low rumble of Cuddy's stomach. She clamped her hand over it and blushed, and he chuckled._

"_When's the last time you ate?"_

"_Earlier today," she said vaguely. House cocked an eyebrow and then stood up and offered his hand to her._

"_Let's go."_

"_Where?" she asked, unsure of what he had in mind._

"_To get food. Duh."_

"_I need to keep studying," she sighed._

"_Cuddy, if you've been studying all week and you're half as smart as I think you are, I think you can afford to take a break and get some food."_

_Cuddy smiled softly at the compliment he'd given her, and she took a second to think about it. She supposed that if House thought she would do well on the test, she probably would. After all, he was the one who had picked the questions._

"_Okay," she relented. She stood up and packed her books into her bag and House went to his table and got his things. They walked out of the library together, and off in the distance, they could hear the rumblings of loud music and partygoers._

"_Are you gonna miss it when you graduate?" he asked, as they walked into the freezing cold. Cuddy's teeth were chattering after only a few minutes of the cold weather._

"_Probably a little bit," she nodded. "But I'm ready to move on. It's time to grow up."_

"_I hate growing up," House grumbled, which made her smile._

"_Aw, you wanna be a little boy forever?" she teased. House gave her a look but smiled afterwards._

"_Jesus, it's cold out here!" he said, angry with the weather._

"_Well we are in Michigan," Cuddy said dryly. "Where do you want to eat?"_

_House stopped walking and looked around the frozen tundra that was campus. "It's too far to walk somewhere. My apartment's just right there," he said, pointing to a complex just a little ways off. "We could order pizza. Make the delivery guy stick it out in this weather."_

_Cuddy hesitated because she wasn't sure she wanted to be alone with House. Well, she did want to. She just wasn't sure that she should._

"_Uh, I don't know," she said. House looked at her with those piercing eyes and smiled sneakily._

"_You don't trust me?"_

"_Not at all," she said with an honest smile._

"_I'll only try to take your clothes off if you try to take mine off first. Deal?"_

_Cuddy laughed and then decided that it was far too cold to trek somewhere for food. So she nodded and walked alongside House to his apartment building. They scurried into his place, and Cuddy looked around._

"_Wow…it's…clean," she said, obviously surprised. House gave her a hurt expression._

"_Are you saying that you thought I was a dirty boy?"_

_She gave him a look and House nodded for her to sit down on his couch. He grabbed his phone and called the pizza place. "What kind do you like?"_

"_Cheese," Cuddy shrugged, getting comfortable on his couch and turning on the small TV._

"_Cheese?" he frowned. "That's not very interesting."_

"_Okay…veggie."_

"_That's even worse," he frowned again. "You one of them herbivores?"_

_Cuddy laughed and nodded her head and House acquiesced with her request of something meatless. He got half cheese and half pepperoni because unlike her, he needed meat to survive. He joined her on the couch after placing the order and he put his feet up on the table._

"_Vegetables must do a body good," he said, eyeing her up and down like a lecherous old man. "I don't think I've ever seen a vegetarian with such a rotund backside."_

"_You really shouldn't say things like that to me," Cuddy said, pretending to be mad but he knew that she wasn't. She would never, __**ever**__, admit it…but she liked his pseudo harassment. And he knew. Which was why he kept doing it._

"_I bet nobody else on this planet appreciates that ass like I do. I live just to see you walk out of class."_

_Cuddy tossed her head back and laughed, smacking his arm a couple of times for good measure. "You are such a pervert, House."_

"_I'm just a man," he shrugged. _

_They sat together and watched TV until the pizza came. Cuddy made no bones about sucking down all her cheese pizza and House smiled. He liked that she was herself. She wasn't one of those girls who got all nervous to eat around a guy. _

"_So are you going to miss me after this semester ends?" House asked as he wiggled his eyebrows._

"_Nope," she said with a straight face. "I'll be quite content to return to stuffy old boring teachers who don't stare at my goods all day."_

"_Hey, if you don't put the goods out there for me to stare at, maybe I wouldn't feel compelled to look."_

_Cuddy smirked. "Yeah right."_

_House mused over that for a minute and he smiled. "Yeah you're right. I would totally still look."_

_She chuckled and then sighed as House got up and threw the pizza box away. Cuddy watched him and immediately found herself wondering what she should do. She wanted to stay and hang out with House, but she knew that she needed to study, too. And she also knew that staying with him might make her things bad things that she shouldn't think about her teacher._

"_I should probably go," she said, standing up and grabbing her bag. House didn't say anything, and in that silence, there was some serious tension. Cuddy looked at him, wishing that she knew what was on his mind. It was pretty clear from all their flirting that there was some mutual attraction between them, but she didn't know if he was actually interested in her like she was in him._

"_How far away is your apartment?" he asked lowly as she walked to the door._

"_Across campus," she groaned. Cuddy truly was dreading walking in the cold to get back to her place. House nodded slowly and as she put her hand on the doorknob, she froze when she felt House's hand on top of hers._

"_Or you could stay here," he said in that low tone that made his voice impossibly deep. Cuddy felt her heart leap into her throat and a surge of arousal shot between her legs. She didn't turn around as she licked her lips, and she swallowed hard when House moved his body directly behind hers. She could feel the heat of him, radiating through his shirt and jeans and seeping past her own clothes. _

"_House," Cuddy said in a near whisper, unsure of how she would even finish the sentence. She wanted to sleep with him, but she knew that she shouldn't. She was quickly losing any sense of what she should and shouldn't do, though, when House's hot breath tickled the back of her ear. His hands slid onto her hips and Cuddy involuntarily closed her eyes._

"_I know you want to stay," he whispered to her. "You're stressed out. I'll make you feel good."_

"_We shouldn't do this," Cuddy said, not recognizing her own husky, lust-filled voice._

"_Nobody has to know," House promised her, pressing his lips to the spot where her shoulder and neck joined. He kissed the skin softly, but then opened his mouth and sucked on her. Cuddy's mouth opened in a tiny gasp and she could literally see her self-control walking out the door, leaving only her lust and libido in House's able hands. She found herself tilting her head to the side so he could kiss more of her, and House didn't hesitate to take advantage of the new opportunity. He squeezed her hips a little tighter and pulled her back into his body as his tongue and lips ran down the side of her neck. He sucked on her skin, licked it, bit it softly. Cuddy was his for the taking._

"_Do you want to stay?" he whispered into her ear, rubbing his pelvis into her backside. Cuddy swallowed and opened her eyes again to find that she was a little dizzy from lust. She hadn't had sex in a while and having House break her dry spell was incredibly arousing._

"_Yes," she whispered to him. She couldn't see him smile, but she was sure he did. House turned her around and pressed her up against his door. He hoisted her into his arms, wrapped her legs around his waist, and gave her one heated glance before zeroing in on her parted lips. Cuddy immediately threaded her fingers in his hair as he pressed his warm lips to hers and she sucked on his bottom lip before gently biting it. House groaned into her mouth, so Cuddy bit him again. She didn't do it too hard, just enough to make him feel the pressure between her teeth. He obviously liked it and she smiled as he slid his tongue into her waiting mouth. For several long minutes, their tongues slipped past each other, plunging into each other's mouths. House sucked her tongue into his mouth and she moaned, pulling him closer and wiggling her body against his. _

_Cuddy broke away from his mouth and groaned in pleasure as her wiggling caused her to brush back and forth against his erection. House tossed her hair out of the way and captured her ear in his mouth, making her mouth fall open in a pleasurable gasp. He trailed his wet lips down the side of her face, to her neck, and onto her collarbone. All the while, Cuddy pushed her body into his, creating more and more friction inside her jeans and causing her nether regions to dampen with arousal. _

"_Take me to the bed," she whispered to him, in that sinfully deep voice that made House want to pin her even harder to the door and fuck her until she passed out from the pleasure. She sucked on the side of his neck and he closed his eyes and groaned. Her mouth was like a little vacuum, and he immediately pictured her sucking something else of his. The thought made his pants that much tighter and he pulled her off the door and carried her to his bedroom. She sucked his neck and ran her hands down his chest until he placed her onto the bed and yanked his shirt off. Cuddy watched through heavily lidded eyes, staring at the large bulge in his jeans, as she undid his zipper and pulled off his pants. His erection was jutting out, making his boxers look like a camping tent._

"_You must be pretty big down there," she said seductively, as she used her elbows to sit up and look at him. House smiled and then crawled onto the bed, looming over her._

"_I get by," he said, placing his slim fingers on her hips before undoing her jeans and sliding them off her legs. Cuddy's breathing increased as House licked his way up one leg, coming painfully close to her inner thighs. She closed her eyes and bit her lip in anticipation. She didn't know if he was one of those guys who was repulsed by the idea of licking the sweet spot but she hoped like hell that he wasn't. Nothing got her motor running like a warm mouth on her most intimate spot. In fact, she had dumped a guy for his refusal to give her oral pleasure. It might have been harsh but she didn't care. She liked sex too much to go unsatisfied._

"_Do you…" she started, her voice hot and heavy in her throat. Cuddy raised her hips just slightly to give him an idea of what she meant, and House's slow grin told her everything she needed to know. He pulled off her tiny panties and tossed them over his shoulder, and he barely had time to look at the treasure between her legs before his mouth was on her. She moaned in relief and allowed her head to fall back onto the bed and her hands found their way back to his hair. House apparently had quite a bit of practice in such activities because Cuddy felt like there were three separate tongues on her. He sucked her clit into his mouth and batted it around with his tongue, ripping moans and whimpers from his lover's mouth. He trailed his lips down her slit, weaving his tongue up and down and in and out._

_Cuddy could feel herself getting so wet that she was leaking onto his bed comforter. She throbbed with desire for him because the constant teasing of his mouth had her teetering on the edge, and she needed penetration to push her over. She hissed and shot her hips off the bed when House slid two fingers inside her and continued to suck on her clit. _

"_Oh God," she breathed, willing herself not to orgasm just yet. She had never been one of those girls who could climax two or three times, and she knew that if she peaked without House, the sex wouldn't be as enjoyable. So she tugged on his hair and when he looked at her, the intense gaze nearly made her come on his fingers. "Fuck me," she breathed._

_House wasn't usually one to take orders, but he was more than willing to do what she asked. He tugged on her shirt. "Take this off," he told her as he stood up and yanked his boxers down. He pulled out his nightstand drawer and took out a condom. He ripped the package open with his teeth while Cuddy discarded of her top and bra. She lay, gloriously naked and aroused, and House couldn't get back to her soon enough. He strapped the condom on and positioned himself between her legs. He sank his tongue into her mouth at the same time that he sank himself into her soaking wet heat, and Cuddy moaned and wrapped her naked legs around his waist. She pulled him in deeper and broke away from their kiss so she could voice her approval at the way he filled her._

"_You're so wet," he whispered against her lips, rocking his hips back and forth inside her. "Does it feel good to you, Cuddy? Do I like how I fuck you?" Even during sex, House wanted to get inside her mind. He wanted to know everything about her: what turned her on, what made her tick, and most importantly right now, what made her scream._

"_Yessss," she hissed, her eyes screwed shut. She bit his shoulder and whimpered at how agonizingly slowly he was torturing her. Slow, shallow strokes that teased and titillated her senses._

"_God, House, go deeper," she begged._

_House licked her clavicle and pushed deeper inside, rewarded with a groan of satisfaction. He turned Cuddy's face to him and when she opened her eyes, he brushed his lips against hers. Cuddy leaned up and captured his lips, burying her tongue into his mouth as she hoisted her hips up and made him give her more of what she wanted. House grunted and while their kissing intensified, so did the sex. He planted his hands on either side of Cuddy's face, pulling away so he could look at her while he fucked her. He drove his hips deeper, harder, and faster. Cuddy began to unravel and she wrapped her arms around him and scratched his back with her nails._

"_You like that?" he said, more of a statement than a question._

"_Yes," Cuddy moaned loudly, matching his thrusts with her own. _

_With every moan from her lips, House thrust harder. He started to slam into her, wrenching screams and gasps from his young and beautiful bedmate. Their bodies smacked together and Cuddy hung onto him for dear life. House groaned in her ear and she dug her heels into his back as she got closer and closer to orgasm._

"_Fuck," she screamed, panting with every stroke. "I'm so close," she said like she was begging him to get her to that point. _

"_Scream my name when you come," he whispered hotly in her ear. Cuddy's breathing was ragged and she clenched him tightly. House pounded into her body a few more times before she squeezed the living hell out of him and her head shot back in ecstasy._

"_Greg!" she screamed over and over. Her cries became incoherent and she was so wet that he almost slipped out of her. House studied her face and when she started whimpering, he almost couldn't take it. She was so sexy in every possible way. He thrust into her several more times and then he wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her so close to him that he could feel her body on every single inch of his. He buried his head in her neck and cried out when he came and his hips worked with a mind of their own. He jerked and shuddered and after he climaxed, he made a few more soft thrusts into Cuddy's body before resting on top of her. _

_House didn't relinquish his ironclad hold on her and his eyes started to get heavy. He craned his head up to see that Cuddy had fallen asleep, her lips swollen from kissing and her hair mussed from the sex. He smiled and rested his head in the crevice of her neck again, and he gave into the sex-induced haze and fell asleep._

…

Cuddy found herself shamefully aroused at the memory of her sexual encounter with House and after a few minutes of replaying the images in her head again, she decided that it was time to go to bed. But before she went to sleep, she had some business to handle. And she knew that she would be thinking of House when she handled it.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

House sat at his piano, his eyes closed as his fingers tickled the ivories and produced a sweet, slow melody. As he had become more comfortable with himself and with his own memories, he convinced Wilson that he could live on his own. Wilson was a cross between a best friend and a nagging wife, and it took all of House's persuasion to get the younger man back to his own life. If House hadn't known better, he would have thought that Wilson wanted to stay with him. But he was enjoying the quiet and comfort of his own apartment, sliding into a routine as he healed day by day.

The phone rang, bringing him out of his peaceful reverie. House slid off the stool and picked up the receiver.

"Hello," he said, unsure of who might be calling.

"Greg," a soft feminine voice answered. House furrowed his eyebrows and waited for the person to give some kind of clue as to who she was. He didn't recognize her voice as Cuddy's, or Cameron's for that matter. He had talked to his mother a few times, successfully convincing her that there was no need to come see him because he probably wouldn't remember her anyway. So whoever was on the phone was foreign to him.

"Are you there?" she asked, and her voice gave away the slightest hint of a Southern accent.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I'm sorry about this, but would you mind telling me who this is?"

There was a short period of silence and then she scoffed. "Are you trying to hurt me?" she asked with a little edge to her voice.

"No, I'm sorry," House said genuinely. "I was in an accident and I can't remember some things."

"Oh my God, are you okay?" she asked, her voice immediately becoming laced with concern.

"I think I'm fine," he shrugged, still unsure about who he was talking to.

"I can't believe this," she said, mostly to herself. "Wilson and Lisa didn't call me," she mumbled.

"Who is this?" he asked again.

"Stacy," she answered, and House racked his brain to remember someone named Stacy. He was drawing a blank.

"I don't remember you," he said in an apologetic tone. "We were…friends?"

"More than friends," she responded in a sad tone, and House immediately knew that she was an ex-girlfriend. He straightened up a little and wondered if Cuddy knew about this Stacy woman, and why neither Cuddy nor Wilson had contacted her after his accident. Stacy obviously still cared if she was just calling to talk to him, and she sounded awfully worried.

"I'll come see you," Stacy offered. "Maybe it'll jog some memories."

"Maybe," he said slowly. He wasn't exactly sure how to feel about Stacy, but considering he couldn't remember the context of their relationship, he didn't know whether the breakup was his fault or hers. There was a knock on his door and House kept the phone to his ear as he opened the door. He was quite pleased to see Cuddy standing there, all bundled up in one of her expensive coats and her black hair curled just right. She looked cold but hot.

"Cuddy," he said happily.

She smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but House didn't catch it because Stacy was talking in her ear at the same time.

"Don't tell her I called or that I'm coming to see you," Stacy said in a begging tone. "It'll complicate things."

"Uh…"

"House?" Cuddy asked, noting the weird look on his face. "I asked if you had eaten." She held up a bag of food, probably Chinese, and House shook his head.

"No, I haven't." He pointed to the phone to excuse himself and Cuddy nodded like she understood. House disappeared into his bedroom.

"Why don't you want me to tell Cuddy?" he asked into the phone.

"She'll think I'm coming to win you back, and I'm not. I just want to see you and make sure you're okay."

"Win me back?" House asked. "Why did we break up?"

"It's a very long story that you obviously don't have time for since you have company." The tale end of Stacy's comment led House to believe that she was jealous. That intrigued him. He wanted to know more about the dynamics of his relationship with Stacy, and Stacy's relationship with Cuddy. So he nodded his head.

"Fine, I won't tell her. Yet."

"Just let me visit you and we can talk about it. If you want to tell her afterwards, you can."

"Okay."

"I'll be there tomorrow," she promised. "I hope you get better."

"Thanks."

House hung up the phone and stared at it for a minute. He knew something about his being single was strange. Nobody wanted to be middle-aged and alone. Suddenly, things had gotten a lot more interesting. He walked back into the kitchen, where the vision of Cuddy's long black hair made him smile.

"Who was that?" Cuddy asked, forking some rice and chicken onto a plate. House hated to lie but he didn't want to possibly upset Cuddy with talk about Stacy. For all he knew, the two women hated one another.

"Wilson," he shrugged.

"Aw, he probably misses you," she teased. "He was moping around today after being evicted."

House smiled and stole the plate of food from her. Cuddy chuckled and titled her head to the side.

"I fixed that plate for you, so you're not actually taking anything from me."

"Damn," he smiled, swinging the fridge door open and pulling out a bottle of wine. He held it up for her to see. "Is this okay?"

"As long as you're not planning to get me drunk and take advantage of me," she flirted. House grinned as he put his plate down and popped open the bottle of wine. He loved when Cuddy flirted with him. There was something so utterly sensual about the way she raised her eyebrow and lowered her voice, like she was telling him a dirty little secret. House was convinced that there was no way that the two of them had not messed around, at least once.

"What brings you over here?" he asked.

"Just thinking of you, I guess," Cuddy shrugged, plucking the glass of wine from his hand. "Thanks."

House watched her walk out of the kitchen and he made sure to appreciate the movement of her butt. Butt-watching had become a hobby of his, at least when it came to Cuddy. He poured himself a glass of wine and then carried that and his plate out to the living room, where he sat on the couch with her.

"Thanks for bringing food," he said, digging into the chicken. "I was starting to wonder who I'd have to rob to feed myself tonight."

Cuddy laughed and displayed that big smile of hers. "Same old House. It's like you have some genetic aversion to grocery shopping."

"You could do it for me," he suggested with a cute, boyish smile.

"No way. You already like to think of me as your personal servant. Buying your food would just solidify that."

House smiled and then watched her eat a piece of chicken. The sauce dripped down the corner of her lips and before he could stop himself, he reached his thumb up and wiped it for her. Cuddy's gray eyes locked with his blue ones as he slowly pulled his thumb off her lip and licked the sauce off. He tried to play it cool but she looked a little taken aback, not in a bad way, though.

"Speaking of servants, there's something I've been wanting to ask you," House said, returning his attention to his food. Cuddy nodded and looked at him as she took a sip of her wine. "But I don't want to make you mad."

"Oh believe me," she said dryly. "I doubt there's anything you can say to me that could be worse than half the things you've said at some point in our relationship. I've heard it all from you."

House chuckled and nodded. "Okay then."

Cuddy could tell that he was still a little hesitant and she actually found it cute. House was never one to be at a loss for words. He always had a retort, a comeback, something witty to say. Catching him off his toes was a rare and magnificent sight.

"What is it?" she asked, biting into another piece of chicken.

"Have you and I ever…" He looked at her and raised his eyebrows. "Slept together?"

Cuddy's blushed cheeks told him the answer, but he waited for her to confirm anyway. She cleared her throat and set her wine down, staring at her food for a minute. "Once," she nodded.

"I knew it," House grinned, happy that he had won the mental bet he'd made with himself. Cuddy smiled at his reaction.

"How did you know?"

"The palpable sexual tension was a good indicator," he said, very House-like and deadpan. That made Cuddy grin in spite of herself. "And you're just too damn sexy not to at least _try_ to get my hands on."

She looked down at her food again, biting her lip from grinning too hard. Sure, House made comments about her body on a daily basis. But they were always shrouded in insults and perversion. To hear him call her sexy, with no strings attached, was a nice change of pace.

"Thank you," she said quietly, moving around a piece of rice on her plate.

"Was it good?" House asked, his eyes fixed on her lips. Cuddy smiled slowly, recalling the rather vivid memory she had of him just the other day.

"It was okay," she shrugged casually. She looked up at him and House stared at her, before shaking his head.

"You're lying. The corner of your lip is twitching just a little bit and your eyes are too wide. It was good, wasn't it?"

Cuddy laughed at his perception and she found herself nodding. "Very."

"When? Recently?" he asked, wondering if she would mind giving him a repeat.

"If twenty years ago is recent, then yes."

"Ah, I see." House nodded to himself, like he was adding things up in his mind. "So that would explain this whole situation that we have. The bickering and the jokes that you're always telling me about. Mind fucking."

Cuddy's eyes popped as wide as they could and she tossed her head back and laughed loudly. House smiled and his eyes roamed down her exposed neck and he had to physically restrain himself from leaning over and taking that neck into his mouth.

"That's a new one," she said, still laughing as she looked at him again. "I don't think I've ever heard our relationship described as mind fucking."

"Sure it is," he shrugged. "You're the boss, I'm your genius doctor. We've got a history and I find you impossibly attractive. You find me attractive, too," House said like he was absolutely certain. Cuddy stared into his eyes and she suddenly felt very vulnerable and on display. It was so much easier to avoid the obvious sexual tension between them when they didn't address it so directly, unlike what he was doing at the moment. He wasn't supposed to say it out loud! It made things awkward.

"Um," she started, not sure how to respond. House put his plate and wine on the table, and then he took Cuddy's from her and put it next to his. She gulped as he scooted closer to her and placed his hand on her thigh. "House," she said lowly, her ears pounding as blood rushing to all the right places.

"Do you get off on arguing with me?" House asked in something akin to a whisper. Cuddy's heart started pumping triple time and she found herself getting lost in his electric blue eyes. His hand gently caressed her thigh and she licked her lips.

"Sometimes," she whispered in confession.

"Do you think about sleeping with me again?" he asked boldly.

"No," she said softly.

"Liar," he smiled. House leaned so close to her that his lips touched hers, just enough for her to get a taste of the sauce and wine. For a brief moment, she closed her eyes and she thought about jumping his bones and _making_ him remember what it was like to have sex with her. She felt him capture her bottom lip in his mouth and she was quickly losing her control and perspective. When her lip plopped out of his mouth and the sound echoed throughout the room, she snapped her eyes open like she was coming out of a fog. She pushed House away and stood up before she lost her sense completely.

"I can't do this," she told him. Cuddy started to walk away but House grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"Why not?"

"Because," she whimpered. "You don't remember. You're vulnerable. I'd be taking advantage of you."

"Oh, I want it," House assured her. "It's not taking advantage if I want it."

"Yes, it is," Cuddy told him seriously. "If you wanted me all the time the way you do now, you would have made a move on me a long time ago."

"Look, Cuddy, I don't know why I normally act the way I do towards you, but I can assure you that this is not some new feeling," House said, staring into her eyes as he sat on the couch and she stood in front of him. "I'm _insanely_ attracted to you. If I wasn't before, I must have been brain dead."

"No, before you were _you_. Now you're…" Cuddy shrugged and struggled to find the words. "Somebody else."

"Do you like me like this?" House asked.

"Yes," she answered without hesitation.

"So what's the problem?"

"I like you both ways," she admitted, feeling like she was crazy for treating him like he was two different people. "And eventually, you will get all your memories back and you'll turn into your old self. I don't want to get involved with you like this, only to have you hurt me later." Cuddy pulled her hand away and looked at him with a sad expression on her face. "Because you _will_ hurt me. That's what you do."

House let her go as she grabbed her coat. He heard her heels as she walked to the door and after it swung open, he could tell that she was hesitating. He looked over the back of the couch and she was staring at him like she was really confused.

"I'm sorry," she said genuinely. Cuddy left and closed the door behind her. House covered his face with his hands and groaned. Clearly, he needed some more information before he could convince Cuddy that giving him a chance wouldn't kill her. He needed to talk to Stacy and get his life sorted out, and then he was going to make another run at his boss.


End file.
